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Best Amuse-Bouche

Gougères, those wonderfully light cheese puffs, have been elevated to new heights by chef de cuisine Didier Elena at Alain Ducasse, where the little Burgundian delicacies get a surprise creamy cheese filling. The airy, puffy choux pastry shell, flavored with comte cheese from the Jura, is filled with Mornay sauce while still hot and crisp, then served immediately on a silver-edged Lalique plate as a welcoming hors d’oeuvre with an aperitif. Avoid the temptation to take a bite. The cheese might ooze and ruin the evening. Happily, they’re small enough to pop into the mouth whole for an unexpectedly intense cheesy sensation.

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So what exactly does “best” mean in a city with thousands of pizza joints, hundreds of celebrity masseuses, and museum-worthy concept shops on every corner? Well, in the case of this, our annual “Best of New York” roundup, there’s a heavy emphasis on what’s new or what has somehow remained virtually unheard of (until now, of course).